Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Deli Tim


I kind of like this deranged picture Kay took of me at work.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Me and Madeline on Isle Royale!

Fox



This fox came out of the woods and hung around a while near me and Madeline while we were having breakfast this morning.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Rock Harbor

Isle Royale National Park


Tomorrow I'm heading out to Isle Royale! This will be my first trip out to the island. I'll be performing a wedding there tomorrow night and then coming back to the mainland Sunday morning.

Liv (top), Badger (below)



Liv and Badger were both at the opening reception tonight. I have 20 paintings in the new show, and 3 or 4 sold the first night. The show will be up until September 10.

Bean, Jack, Kayla, Roxie



These are four dogs who have touched my life within the last year. Bean was a dog that I fostered after she had been abandoned by a meth addict. She was left tied to a tree, and through law enforcement, came to my house until a new home was found for her through a retriever rescue group. She was a happy, loving dog, and we fell in love with her immediately.

Jack is my nephew's Jack Russell/Westie mix. Jack is wise and good.

Kayla passed away before this painting was finished. She was loved very much by my friend Dawn.

Roxie is my friend Susan's whippet. She has a real passion for running!

DOG SHOW opens at JHP




Hanasakajijii I: The Floating Dog

"And so it happened long, long ago..."

So begins "Hanasakajijii", a tale of the man who made flowers bloom. A Japanese folk tale, passed in the oral tradition, about a man who comes to great fortune and brings prosperity to his land, ending a long drought. The source of his fortune: An abnormally large dog.

According to the tale, an old woman washing her linens in the river notices an abnormally large dog (I chose an Akita) which has been set afloat on the river, and helps it to shore, rescuing it and giving it a home with her and her husband. The two embrace the dog as their own and are rewarded for their kindness when one day the dog unearths a large fortune. Their jealous, cantankerous neighbor borrows the dog in hopes that it will bring him fortune as well; instead the dog reveals a pool of garbage and vile insects beneath the treacherous yard. Angry, the villain shoots the dog through the side and burns the body.


Hanasakajijii II: A Great Wind, More Sushi

The ash of the burnt canine fells the neighbor and, drifting into the kindly old man's yard, raises a great tree and causes flowers to bloom, ending the town's drought.

My retelling of this story was inspired partly by the Ham Lake fire. The cherry blossoms here blooming on a burned branch and the Japanese Chin offering a feast of sushi represent the new growth and hope that come even after a devastating loss and difficult times.

JHP goes to the DOGS


JHP celebrates dog's world with many views of many breeds
Cook County News-Herald
Last Updated: Friday, July 27th, 2007 10:07:49 AM

Dogs, dogs and more dogs — The paintings and prints at The Dog Show, which opens at the Johnson Heritage Post with a reception from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, July 27, are extraordinary .

Joan Farnam
Feature editor

There’s a dog show at the Johnson Heritage Post this Friday.
And no, that doesn’t mean you’ll walk in to be greeted by wagging tails and an affectionate bump on the leg.
But you will be greeted by dogs — lots of dogs.
Cute dogs, sad dogs, funny dogs, spiritual dogs, wolf-dogs, mutts, pedigrees and more, line the walls of the gallery in a art show that is pretty fantastic.
Originally the brainchild of Sivertson gallery-owner Jan Sivertson, who is on the board of the Heritage Post, and Susan Kirkham, who paints portraits of whippets, the Dog Show has grown to include eight other local artists, all of whom paint dogs and love to do it.
“This is probably the only Dog Show in the country,” said Kirkham, “except for the AKC Museum in St. Louis.”
A show like this might have been quite surprising 20 years ago, added Kirkham, who struggled for years at the Minnesota College of Design to paint dogs despite what her professor said. At one point, he angrily told her “Bring in six paintings tomorrow and I don’t want to see any cute paintings of your cute puppy,” he told her. It wasn’t until she took a class from Hazel Belvo at the Grand Marais Art Colony that she began painting dogs again. “She’s the one who said go for it,” Kirkham recalls. “You can be the best painter of dogs in the country.” These days, paintings of dogs are cropping up everywhere. “I see them in the southwest a lot and in England — they’re quite the rage.”
Painting dogs can be restorative, said Tamera Andersen, who first started painting dogs after her dog died. “My heart was broken,” she said, and so she started painting her lost companion. Since then she has done a great series about her three-legged dog, Arthur. Arthur is a plucky cancer survivor and her paintings celebrate his life.
Tim Young, who has painted dogs since he was a boy, said dogs are just pure love.” Love is a theme with dogs,” he said, and then gestured to the paintings on the walls. “I feel that here.”
Humor is also part of the mix, as is whimsy. Kelly Dupre has several linoleum cuts of dogs treeing a cat or sitting there expectantly with bone in mouth. They elicit chuckles and endearments.
Sterling Rathsack, a painter from Superior, Wis., also has pieces in the show. Some are dark, foreboding images, others are playful paintings of dogs at play and in their element.
Marce Wood is showing a wonderful collection of her whimsical paintings on wood which evoke some of the fascinating spiritual aspects of dogs in our culture, and Staci Drouillard has a series of charming and poignant paintings of dogs that evoke smiles.
Young, who fosters lost and abandoned dogs until they can find homes, has a series of paintings of these brief guests, as well as paintings of his own pets.
And painter Jan Attridge, who is new to the area, has painted wolves as well as dogs, bringing history into the mix.
And last, but not least, Liz Sivertson has not only done paintings but large-scale sculptures of dogs which greet the visitor (like all dogs will) as they enter the show.
There’s no doubt about it — it’s a dog’s world at the Heritage Post this month, so go and enjoy it.
The opening reception is from 5-7 p.m. Friday, July 27. Refreshments will be served.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Sunbird coming and going



These photos were taken by Madeline.

Friday, July 20, 2007

it's my birthday


Or yesterday, I should say since it's 12:26 am now. I had a fun party with a lot of my co workers, their families and other friends from town. I wanted to show you this picture of the fruit platter - I had that hot shot deli guy from the Co Op cater the event.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

detail from the car

trunk


I'm uploading this picture just because I think it shows the color on the trunk better than the one below with the glare from the sun. I'll try to get a better aerial photo of the car without so much glare sometime.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Me in the Sunbird


Grand Marais Arts Festival weekend.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

A comment on the Art Car

I wondered what the former owner would think of what I'm doing to the car... In order to protect the innocent, we'll call him... Frank. Here's what Frank said when he saw the car:

Wow! Thanks for sending the link - I've added it to my favorites! I am truly impressed - it is very, very cool! I feel honored to have been able to supply the canvas for your incredibly creative project.
It just reminds me that when I think I'm being creative, I have only about a fingernail of creativity compared to someone like you. Guess that's why I'm a government worker, and you're an artist! I would have never in a million years thought of doing what you're doing with the car. Bravo!!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Art Car!


Today I started painting my 1984 Pontiac Sunbird Convertible. It reminds me a little bit of Austin Powers' VW Beetle Convertible from the movie. I still have a lot more work to do on it... finish the sides, rear, the interior and the top! So stay tuned for updates!

Art Car in Progress

Art Car in Progress!

My Sunbird




Three photos of my new Sunbird before it gets its custom paint... Stay tuned for Cook County's next ART CAR!

Sunday, July 08, 2007

A Luau For Tourists


This is one of two paintings I did today on my cabana porch. I just think this is funny. The red lady to the right (I think her name is Martha) and the Tiki man to the left. This reminds me most of when Madeline was a baby and we took her to a Luau in Las Vegas. We had gotten cheap tickets to it on the airplane, and we ended up sitting very far from the stage, and had to stand in long lines to get food. It was miserable. Not at all like the Luau the Brady's went to in Hawaii. That would have been awesome. This painting also conjurs up images of Disney World's Tiki Room for me.

My other new car!


Tonight I bought a 1984 Pontiac Sunbird convertible!

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

AAA Living Magazine


This week I got a mention in AAA Living Magazine!

Badger Framed

Beagle Revisited

Dog Revisited


Vinca was right. Turned out the legs were too long. :-)

Bean Revisited


Glare on this photo... I think it looks kind of like a cut-out of a dog.

Cricket Revisited


Remember this painting of Cricket? It was transformed today. This photo has a glare on it. Oh well.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Badger


This is my little friend Badger. The painting is acrylic on paper, and I plan to include it in "DOG SHOW" at the Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery in Grand Marais. The show runs July 22 through September 10, and will be a very fun show of work by several dog loving artists.

Everything Reminds Me Of My Dog (detail)

Everything Reminds Me Of My Dog


Yes, there's a whole story behind this painting. Maybe I'll add it here later.

Animals On Wheels (detail)


Acrylic on Paper.

Animals On Wheels


My friend Pam has been asking for years if she could come over and watch me paint. So yesterday, she did that. We sat out on my new "cabana" porch enjoying a beautiful day, and chatting over refreshments and paint. I did two paintings in the sitting, which you can see here in my blog... They are "Animals On Wheels" and "Everything Reminds Me of My Dog."